Today, Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian military operation in Ukraine is "continuing", noting that the door to negotiations is also "open to the Ukrainian side."
"The Russian operation in Ukraine will continue and we have not closed the door to negotiations," Lavrov said, during a speech before the League of Arab States, during his visit to Cairo, adding that the Russian side "presented draft proposals regarding negotiations to the Ukrainian government, but did not receive a response."
Lavrov stressed that "the Ukrainian regime is carrying out operations to bomb hospitals and civilian infrastructure," stressing that Russian forces "secure corridors across the Black Sea for the passage of grain ships, but Ukraine fails to do so due to the spread of mines."
On relations with the League of Arab States, the Russian Foreign Minister indicated that there is a proposal being discussed with the League of Arab States aimed at "identifying additional plans to strengthen joint relations."
He continued, "We agreed with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Aboul Gheit, to define additional plans to strengthen relations between the two sides in various fields," adding that "we plan to hold the Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum soon, in its sixth session, after it was held 5 times."
Lavrov: The Arab position on the crisis in Ukraine is balanced and the West ignores our concerns
Lavrov praised the moderate position of the Arab countries towards the course of the Ukrainian crisis, stressing that Russia is open to dialogue with the Arab world and with all countries of the world.
The Russian Foreign Minister stressed that Russian-Arab relations are based on friendship and cordiality.
Lavrov also explained the reasons that prompted Moscow to start the military operation in Ukraine, explaining: "We had legitimate concerns about our security, and our concerns about NATO expansion and Ukraine's acquisition of a lot of Western weapons were ignored."
He continued: "The Minsk Agreement was violated, Kyiv bombed areas rejecting it with artillery, while the European Union completely failed to fulfill its commitments."
Lavrov pointed out that the Kyiv regime deliberately banned the Russian language in eastern Ukraine, spread racism, anti-Russianism and support for Nazism, recalling that "the West obstructed the negotiation process", stressing at the same time that Russia does not close the door to negotiations with Ukraine.
He pointed out that the Europeans considered that NATO had the right to dominate and do as it pleased, stressing that Moscow "rejects this policy, as the NATO countries cannot maintain their security by threatening the security of another country."
Regarding the grain transport crisis, the Russian minister commented, "The Russian forces have secured passages across the Black Sea for the passage of grain ships, but Ukraine has failed in this because of its deployment of mines in the waters of the ports on the Black Sea."
Lavrov: Moscow Not Asking to Lift Sanctions, But West Must Resolve Self-Created Food Supply Issues
Earlier today, Lavrov said that "Egypt and Russia have basic agreements on a number of regional and global issues," adding: "We discussed the situation in Libya and the need to support the UN mission."
The Russian Foreign Minister called on Ukraine to remove the mines it planted in the ports, and said that "the West seeks to export Ukraine's wheat and ignores Russia's."
For his part, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed the importance of reaching a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis, noting that the crisis "affected Egypt" with regard to food security.
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